St. Louis Cardinals - PlayerWatch

April 08, 2012|Reuters

RF Carlos Beltran had his second straight two-hit game, including a home run, and seems a natural fit for the No. 2 spot in the lineup, with his power and speed. Beltran is a couple of years removed from serious knee surgery and he said, "Coming to spring training this year, my knee felt fine."

SS Rafael Furcal has been a different-looking player than in the spring when he occasionally was dropped to eighth in the lineup and finished the spring at .182. He has two doubles, three singles and two steals in his first two games. "It's a compliment to how hard he's worked," said manager Mike Matheny. "He didn't hang his head."

RHP Scott Linebrink, who injured his right shoulder one day after being signed to a major-league contract after coming to camp as a non-roster player, was placed on the 15-day disabled list. He was replaced by RHP Victor Marte, purchased from Class AAA Memphis. The 31-year-old Marte, who had 31 saves last year at Memphis, was impressive all spring and probably deserved to make the team. "We don't want to push (Linebrink) and make it worse," said general manager John Mozeliak.

RHP Mitchell Boggs, showing more and more confidence with a split-fingered pitch, kept the ball down at a key time in the seventh inning. With the Brewers threatening, the reliever got dangerous 2B Rickie Weeks top hit into a double play. "He came in (this year), wanting to prove something," said Matheny. "This kind of validates the work he's done and the adjustments he's made in his game."

LHP Jaime Garcia, who in other years, might come unraveled a bit after a tough start, allowed a single and a triple to the first two hitters he faced. Both scored in the first inning but he allowed no more runs after that in a six-inning stint. "You have to go on to the next pitch, the next batter," said Garcia. "Stay in the game and forget about what happened. That's part of experience."